“I’m not really in the entertainment business,” says the acclaimed singer/guitarist Corey Harris. Not that he can’t engage an audience, or draw crowds and acclaim around the world. But for Harris, the blues involves a deeper mission, and that includes weighing in when there is something timely that needs to be said.
Insurrection Blues, Harris’ 20th album overall and first for M.C. Records, continues a blues journey that began with his debut album Between Midnight and Day in 1995. The songs are full of topical relevance, yet steeped in tradition and informed by his musical explorations over the decades. Recorded in Italy under shutdown conditions, the album returns to the solo acoustic format that’s been his base since his early days as a street singer in New Orleans. But you can also hear between the lines traces of the different styles he’s absorbed, including the roots music he heard during a year’s stay in West Africa–fusing that with Delta blues on 2003’s Mississippi to Mali. His interest in the Rastafarian faith led to a reggae-inspired album, 2007’s Zion Crossroads, and later band albums like 2009’s blu.black even incorporated hp-hop. Through it all, he returned to cornerstone blues pieces, while gradually evolving from an interpreter to a songwriter.
He was featured in the Scorsese film, “Feel Like Going Home” and on the now-classic, “Mermaid Avenue” albums of rediscovered Woody Guthrie songs, for which he wrote some of the music. He’s collaborated with the likes of B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Tracy Chapman, and Dave Matthews, and won honors including the MacArthur Fellowship’s “genius award” and an honorary music doctorate from his alma mater, Bates College in Maine.
With Insurrection Blues he returns to acoustic basics while offering some necessary commentary. Like many of us, he was paying attention to national events during the pandemic lockdown. And when he saw the profoundly disturbing events in Washington DC on January 6th, the path of his next album became clear. “I was on Twitter and probably saw the first video five minutes after it was posted. I play music because I have something to say, and I’m thankful that I can eat because of it. But in the tradition of the blues, we are often called in to testify. When I saw those Twitter feds on January 6th, I felt there was a duty, a responsibility, to use the craft to say something. Nobody else was doing it, so I felt like I could.”
Not every song relates specifically to the January 6th events, and of course, a few were written decades beforehand. But the original and covered songs together represent Harris’ take on America in 2021. “I already had some songs that were fresh, either songs that I’d written or interpretations of songs that I love,” he says. “But those particular events led to the mood of the record, and to my impressions of what I see around me in the world. I would say that this is a healing record, but in order to heal you have to identify the problem.”
It also seemed an opportune moment to bring out his roots in acoustic blues. I’ve played with bands over the years, but I began playing solo and the solo expression is the foundation for any band work that I do. This record came out of playing acoustic and getting closer to the beat that I feel inside. The foundation of that vibe is voice and rhythm, and then guitar. I tried to ground my playing in what my voice and my foot were doing; and even how I breathe when I’m playing a song. It was very important to get close to the center of things." Yet there’s still a spiritual link to other music, even hip-hop.” If you’re a real MC you’re talking about what’s going on in your community. So I wanted to make a blues record that talks about the word on the street.”
Thus his feelings about the insurrection made a framework for the album, whether the songs were explicitly connected or not. “As an African living in America, as a descendant of slaves that built this country, I am looking at the survival mechanisms that have existed for people to persevere in difficult times. And when we think about that, the blues always comes to mind. When I saw the insurrection, I saw how race and history collided there. For instance, the way that the Black Capitol police were being assaulted physically– The symbolism of that was quite heavy, particularly since it was a Black man who saved the life of Mitt Romney (among others) by delaying the entry of the aggressors.”
The album’s most explicit commentary is its title song, “Chickens Come Home to Roost (Insurrection Blues),” which is preceded by a sound clip of the actual event. “The concept goes back to what Malcolm X was saying after Kennedy was assassinated, that the chickens had come home to roost– that the violence that America has wrought has come back to bite it. When you have people talking about hanging the Vice President, and nobody gets more than a slap on the wrist legally, then it’s time to take a look.”
Other songs relate to the theme by virtue of spirituality and mood. There is naturally a gospel track, “Gates to the City,” which he adapted from the Rev. Gary Davis interpretation. Songs like “You Gonna Quit Me Baby” and “When Did You Leave Heaven” (respectively from Blind Blake and Big Bill Broonzy) evince his skills with a romantically themed lyric; but these too tie into the overall story. “Loss, longing, betrayal, those things always apply. And there are stories of loss in this insurrection on so many levels. People left their families, driving across the country, to put their lives in danger for strangers, for a cause that would not benefit them. They lost their lives for something they believed in, even if it was completely insane.”
Also included are a handful of instrumentals that showcase his guitar prowess. “Afton Mountain Blues” has a lively country feel with its harmonica and fingerpicking. “That’s my song but to me, it’s a real Piedmont style, a mountain, and country thing.” In contrast, “Sunjata” and “Tubaka” are both rooted in
Malian traditional music. “That’s what you might call manding or griot guitar, a little inspiration I carried over when I wrote “Mama Africa” and the title song. Just trying to show that you can put the blues with those other styles, and together they say something about the world as it is today.”
It all ties in with Harris’ mission as a modern bluesman with an ear to the ground.
